- Current and past users more likely to select dietary supplements or OTC products for future mood and stress coping; current users show strongest association.
- Current users exhibited lower physician trust and communication competency scores and were less likely to raise product-related doubts with their doctor.
- Findings are selective rather than uniform; cross-sectional and hypothetical outcomes preclude causal inference and actual healthcare-seeking conclusions.
Nutrients. 2026 Aug 20;18(16):2726. doi: 10.3390/nu18162726.
ABSTRACT
Background/Objectives: Dietary supplements (DSs) and over-the-counter (OTC) medications for mood improvement and stress relief are widely used, but little is known about how their use relates to coping preferences, trust in physicians, and communication with doctors. This exploratory cross-sectional study compared users and non-users of such products in Poland. Methods: Data were collected between October 2024 and May 2025 and included 798 adults recruited through a mixed-mode convenience sampling strategy (636 online and 162 in person). Participants were classified as current users (CUs; n = 184), past users (PUs; n = 297), or never-users (NUs; n = 317). The outcomes included hypothetical future coping strategies (under an assumption of unlimited resources), trust in physicians using an author-translated adaptation of the Trust in Doctors in General (T-DiG) scale and three-category communication-related attitudes. Multivariable models were adjusted for age, gender, education, medical or health science background, and recruitment mode. Results: Overall, 60.3% of respondents reported current or past use. Compared with NUs, both CUs and PUs had higher adjusted odds of selecting future DS/OTC use (CUs: aOR = 5.60, 95% CI 3.44-9.14, p < 0.001; PUs: aOR = 2.44, 95% CI 1.52-3.93, p < 0.001). PUs also had higher adjusted odds of selecting psychotherapy (aOR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.04-2.17, p = 0.031; overall p = 0.018). Product-use status was associated with selected items of T-DiG: communication competency (overall p = 0.031) and global trust (overall p < 0.001). Compared with NUs, CUs had lower adjusted scores on both subscales (aMD = -0.19, 95% CI -0.33 to -0.04, p = 0.010 and aMD = -0.40, 95% CI -0.59 to -0.21, p < 0.001, respectively). Overall product-group effects were also observed for the first two communication items: CUs had lower relative risk ratios than NUs for discussing product-related doubts first with their physician (RRR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.35-0.78, p = 0.001) and for feeling free to raise such doubts (RRR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.36-0.92, p = 0.022). Conclusions: Product-use status showed selective associations with hypothetical coping preferences, physician trust, and communication-related attitudes rather than a uniform pattern of reluctance to seek professional support. Current use was most strongly associated with lower trust and less favorable product-related communication attitudes. Given the cross-sectional design and hypothetical nature of the coping outcomes, these findings do not establish causality, temporal ordering, or actual healthcare-seeking behavior.
PMID:42654306 | DOI:10.3390/nu18162726
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